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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24694888">my virtues uncounted</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/destiny919/pseuds/destiny919'>destiny919</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Cheats On Padme With Obi-Wan and I Regret Nothing And So Does He, Battle of Mustafar, Crack Treated Seriously, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Infidelity, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Force Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, Infidelity, M/M, Mind Control, Serious treated Crackly, Time Travel, i'm just kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall with these tags, seriously this isn't going to be anidala-friendly, that's just the name of the obikin game isnt it, trying to think about what i'll be posting going forward, unless you like Friendly Anidala where they're Friends in which case this might be the fic for you!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:55:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24694888</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/destiny919/pseuds/destiny919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of short fics, you know the drill. Mainly random scenes, some involving larger concepts. See additional chapter notes for details.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>228</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Second Attachment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/FromDreamstoEmpires/gifts">FromDreamstoEmpires</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i got a 30 page doc full of obikin ficlets, mostly unconnected and mostly lacking any wider context or concept. i had been debating whether or not to start posting a collection and finally decided to do so as a belated birthday gift for cas/subskywalker/FromDreamstoEmpires. i'll probably post a chapter every couple days or so until i run out, and then maaaybeee i can produce more. </p><p>@cas happy birthday!!! promote this on your blog or else!!!!!! where's MY birthday fic bitch!!!!! i'm still waiting!!!!!!!</p><p>fic title from "shrike" by hozier</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Council has an unorthodox idea.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Only one single attachment, Skywalker has," Master Yoda says. "Dangerous, this is." </p><p>"You have been unable to persuade him to sever it?" Shaak Ti asks curiously. </p><p>Mace Windu snorts. "We gave up <em> that </em> idea a long time ago. No, what's dangerous is if it actually were severed, by death. Skywalker would be worse than cast adrift. He could easily turn to the Dark Side if Kenobi were killed while he has no <em> other </em> attachments - they are necessary anchors, for him."</p><p>"So...the idea is to encourage him to form <em> more </em> attachments?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asks incredulously. </p><p>"Only one," Master Windu says. "Enough to give him something he can hold on to if Obi-Wan becomes one with the Force - some kind of restraining influence. We had hoped his dalliance with Senator Amidala a couple of years ago might work, though she is outside the Jedi sphere of influence and so not ideal, but she ended things after the Clone Wars began. Skywalker is also close with his troops, but obviously they cannot be relied upon to remain with him."</p><p>"What are you suggesting?" Kit Fisto asks. </p><p>"A Padawan, we wish to give him," Yoda says. "Have one in mind already, we do."</p><p>A ripple of disbelief goes through the Council room.</p><p>"What Initiate could possibly have done enough that they'd deserve to be made Anakin Skywalker's Padawan?" Mundi demands, and it's unclear whether he means the Initiate had proven talented enough, or unruly enough. To truly suit Skywalker, it would have to be both. </p><p>"Oh," Plo Koon sighs. "You intend to give him little 'Soka."</p><p>Master Yoda inclines his head. "Why she may not be trained by you, discussed, we have. Skywalker, she may suit."</p><p>So Ahsoka having an overly attached Master is just fine, if it suits the Council's needs. "I have no doubt Initiate Tano could keep up with Skywalker and Kenobi," is all Plo says. "And doing so will train her admirably."</p><p>"Glad you agree, we are."</p><p>"I do not," Master Ti says. "I do not feel comfortable entrusting a Padawan to Skywalker at this point. Even were we not in the middle of a war, Skywalker is very young, barely knighted himself."</p><p>"If Obi-Wan wasn't going to be by his side, we would not give Skywalker a Padawan," Mace concedes. "But with him there, Tano could not receive more capable training."</p><p>"I must ask," says Mundi, "is Skywalker's singular attachment to Kenobi worth sacrificing a promising Initiate? It's obvious you intend for Tano to attach to him in return. It's bad enough Kenobi's been so irrevocably compromised."</p><p>Yoda and Windu both look disgruntled at the reminder of Master Kenobi's ruination, or close to, at the hands of Skywalker. He is the best young Master they have, High General of the GAR, and yet he is almost a slave to Anakin Skywalker's needy pout. </p><p>Mace sighs. "Don't underestimate the strength of Skywalker's attachment to Kenobi. Obi-Wan may be one of the most gifted Masters we have, but even he could be lost in this war, and were that to happen...it's our concern that Skywalker would Fall to the Dark Side and kill us all," he finishes baldly. </p><p>"Unless he has something else to cling to," Ti says. </p><p>"Our hope, it is," Yoda says, "that in the event of Master Kenobi becoming one with the Force, Padawan Tano's presence, restrain Skywalker's grief, it will."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>the council: we're going to give skywalker, who has been a knight for one (1) year, a padawan to make sure he doesn't go sith and destroy the galaxy. this can't possibly go wrong.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The first of many Anakin/Padme breakup scenes.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>palpatine: i suppose it depends on whether you love obiwan kenobi more than your wife<br/>me, hand shooting into the air: OH! OH! PICK ME! I KNOW, I KNOW!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They were standing close, heads bowed together, but not because they were speaking quietly. Padme could hear every word. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll see you at home," Anakin said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan gave him a disarmingly tender smile, and Padme swallowed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, even reluctantly, they stepped back from each other. Anakin watched Obi-Wan walk away, not even glancing back at her. And Padme could tell it wasn't because he was waiting for privacy. She could still see his face and it was filled with what she could only describe as </span>
  <em>
    <span>longing. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure enough, when Anakin finally turned to her, he didn't immediately embrace her like she might have expected. And his smile was wan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They both stood there, unable to think of what to say, how to greet each other if not with effusive romantic declarations and displays of affection. Anakin was doing neither, nor was he yelling, and so Padme had no idea what to do with him. Her own words of love had already died on her tongue and her limbs turned leaden at her sides. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she finally spoke, it was not what either of them had expected her to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I thought my apartment was 'home'," she said, unable to sound anything but cold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her tone did not faze Anakin, however. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, I couldn't exactly say that to Obi-Wan," he said easily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, but you could have called it 'the Temple'," she said, feeling jealous and ugly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't respond to that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin," Padme said, her voice breaking, "what's - what happened? You've been gone for eight months. I haven't even heard from you in six. And I know you were still in range for communication." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm - I'm sorry, Padme," Anakin said, and everything about it told her he wasn't apologizing for his lack of communication. "About six weeks after our last deployment, Master... Obi-Wan got badly hurt. He was in bacta for a week, and when he got out..." His words trailed off and he suddenly couldn't look her in the eye, and Padme knew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Did you make the first move, or did he," she said faintly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know," Anakin admitted, and she couldn't even feel shocked by the lack of any attempt at a denial. "I had been...out of my mind while he was in the bacta tank. He...he got hurt protecting me on the battlefield. He almost died in my arms before medivac got there."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She felt sick. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He spent another week recovering - Kix had to threaten him with more time in the tank to make him cooperate - and then. We. We were in his quarters."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't need to hear any more," Padme said quickly. She swallowed. "So you just...didn't contact me for six months after...</span>
  <em>
    <span>trysting</span>
  </em>
  <span> with Obi-Wan?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I mean, we've been together ever since?" Anakin said, confused, and painfully innocent. "I didn't...I didn't want to have this conversation over comms."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padme's hands squeezed into fists. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So instead you spent six months </span>
  <em>
    <span>cheating </span>
  </em>
  <span>on me?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I wasn't cheating!" Anakin protested immediately. "I'm - it's </span>
  <em>
    <span>Obi-Wan!" </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"How does that make it not cheating?" she demanded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Because I'd already been in love with him the entire goddamn time!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They both froze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You've...what?" Padme said, her voice quivering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin looked at her with blazing blue eyes. "I've been in love with him the whole time," he said defiantly. He was daring her to tell him it was wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The whole time we've been married?" she choked out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned away. "Since I was fifteen. When you and I met, I'd given up hope of Obi-Wan returning my feelings. I had always thought, maybe when I was Knighted or when I got older... But our relationship had gotten so rocky by the end of my apprenticeship..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knew that. She'd listened to his impassioned complaints without analyzing where that passion may have really come from. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So I was your second choice," she said quietly. "Your consolation prize."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, no," Anakin pled. "I loved you, I really did!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loved, past tense. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just...not as much as I love my Master."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so many fics have padme just being Chill with her supposed husband just screwing around with obiwan and not even talking to her about it (or even if he does talk to her about it, she just...doesn't mind) and like, no? no, everything we've seen of padme to me indicates that she WOULDN'T be okay with that actually? nor should she have to be?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Either Way He's Still Yelling About Obi-Wan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>And now for something completely different.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>by which i mean, au where anakin and padme Make Friends during aotc and anakin vents about his <i>crush</i> on obiwan (which lbr he was doing anyway). i came up with some headcanons as i went along writing this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"So," Padme said slyly, almost as soon as Obi-Wan left for Kamino and they were alone. "How long have you had a crush on your Master?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin turned scarlet immediately. "I don't know what you're talking about," he yelped, flailing his arms about as if to ward off her question. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hummed. "Can't say that I blame you. The beard certainly suits him. Although I do wish he would cut his hair."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know, right?" Anakin replied instantly, forgetting he was supposed to be denying her claims. "I keep telling him he looks like a Wookiee! Is he from Stewjon, or Kashyyk?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Such skillful flirting, Master Jedi," she deadpanned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin crossed his arms defensively. "I do not </span>
  <em>
    <span>flirt</span>
  </em>
  <span> with my Master. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>can't," </span>
  </em>
  <span>he added miserably. "He'll never return my feelings. He can barely stand me!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, Ani," Padme said, concerned, "I'm sure that's not true."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's all Jedi Code this and Jedi Code that, and 'know your place, young one'." Anakin's imitation of Obi-Wan's Coruscanti accent was truly atrocious, but Padme stopped herself from giggling. "Attachments are forbidden, Padawan. Release your emotions into the Force, Padawan."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hmm'd again, shrewdly. "Are you sure he's not also trying to remind </span>
  <em>
    <span>himself </span>
  </em>
  <span>of those things?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course," Anakin said. "Master is the perfect Jedi. There is no one better." The last statement was tinged with more pride - and adoration - than resentment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You love him," Padme said in surprise. "It's not a crush. You're in love with him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin hung his head. "Yeah," he whispered. "I realized when I was fifteen. I always thought, maybe. When I got older or when I was Knighted..." He trailed off, face crumpling into anguish. "But our relationship has just gotten worse and worse. As soon as I'm Knighted he probably won't want anything to do with me." Anakin slid down the wall to sit on the floor and hugged his knees. "He only trained me out of duty, anyway. Because Master Qui-Gon asked before he died."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No!" Padme gasped. "Anakin, he adored you, even before Master Jinn died."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He didn't," Anakin said miserably. "He resented me and thought I was too dangerous to be trained. He didn't want me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Has Obi-Wan actually said anything to make you believe this?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I could sense his betrayal and resentment after Qui-Gon said he wanted to train me. And I found out about Qui-Gon's dying wish during a fight we had when I was twelve." Anakin's eyes filled with tears. "I couldn't even bring myself to leave my room for almost three days. What was I even doing there? Obi-Wan didn't want me. I was a burden, a duty, a bad reminder."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve since Obi-Wan wasn't there to scold and Padme wouldn't judge him. "I almost left. I had a cache of credits and I could have earned money as a mechanic. But when I left my room during the third night, Obi-Wan was there. At first I thought he might've been waiting up for me - had been waiting the whole time - or he'd sensed what I was going to do and was going to stop me. But he," Anakin gasped, "he acted like nothing had even happened! He just offered me some of his damn sapir tea and asked if I'd done any meditating!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padme had her hands over her mouth during Anakin's speech and when he finished she reached over to hug him tightly. She had no words to offer him right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she had quite a few for Obi-Wan when he returned.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Blue Eyes (White Dragon)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mind control is a hell of a drug.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>somewhere in another universe palpatine had to use mind control to make anakin participate in order 66</p><p>p.s. we're getting into joke chapter title territory here (where we shall stay indefinitely). there's no dragon in this chapter. there also aren't any children's card games.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>His eyes are blue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Master?" Anakin rasps, and Obi-Wan's heart stops. Those blue, </span>
  <em>
    <span>blue</span>
  </em>
  <span> eyes blink rapidly. "What happened? Where are we?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh. Oh. A wild hope seizes on Obi-Wan before he can suppress it. Nonetheless, he is careful when he asks, "What is the last thing you remember?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Am - Am I wearing a </span>
  <em>
    <span>Force Inhibitor?" </span>
  </em>
  <span>Anakin looks at him with crystalline eyes, innocent and afraid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Please, Anakin. I need to know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin swallows and it makes the collar shift. "Uh, you were on Utapau, I-" He goes abruptly milk-white, and Obi-Wan braces himself for the worst. "Master!" Anakin says urgently, reaching out towards him. "Palpatine is the Sith Lord! I told Master Windu - he and other Council members went to arrest him - what happened?" His eyes are full of tears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan staggers back a step and collapses into a hard chair. "Oh, thank the Force," he moans. "It wasn't you. It wasn't you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What wasn't me? Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan!" Anakin sounds increasingly frantic, and he tugs on the collar. "Why am I wearing this? Master, take it off!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan sprawls across the chair for another few moments, simply breathing, while Anakin struggles with the collar. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, my darling,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thinks, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what was done to you?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin," he says finally. "Please relax. I must check something first, but then I should be able to remove the Force Inhibitor."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And you'll explain?" Anakin beseeches him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And I'll explain. Though I fear you will not like what I tell you, my love." The endearment slips out despite Obi-Wan not yet verifying whether Anakin truly still deserves it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rolls those blessedly blue eyes. "Well, no shit, Master! I won't like the explanation for why I've apparently got no memories of a significant span of time and I'm wearing a Force Inhibitor while alone with you on a strange ship!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Swallowing hard, Obi-Wan stands up from the chair and approaches Anakin slowly, cautiously, like he's approaching a wild animal. He knows he will not regain his usual ease around his former Padawan until after he has verified that Anakin was truly not in control of his actions during the Jedi massacre. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin can tell that Obi-Wan is behaving oddly around him, and tenses up in response. "Master," he says, "please tell me what happened."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I will tell you everything, Anakin," he replies, "as soon as I am sure myself." He reaches out and cups Anakin's head in his hands, tenderly as he would have before, and presses his thumbs to Anakin's temples. Anakin takes a deep breath in time with him automatically, and Obi-Wan drops into his mind, the sensation a milder form of when one is trying to fall asleep and gets abruptly woken by the feeling of a sudden fall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He feels the tears that stained Anakin's face as he flees the Senate building after Chancellor Palpatine admits that he is the Sith Lord, and urges Anakin to join his side, promises that together they can build a better galaxy - but first he must turn his back on the Jedi, on Obi-Wan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, Anakin, filled with horror and betrayal, turned his back on Palpatine, and raced to the Temple. Obi-Wan can feel the urgency that pounded through Anakin's body with his racing heart. He can feel how much the young man had wished his Master were there to help him, and once again regrets accepting the solo assignment to go after Grievous despite the intense misgivings he'd had. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"You will have gained my trust," </span>
  </em>
  <span>Mace says to him, and Anakin's hurt and frustration is almost overwhelming, like a massive cresting wave, but it dissipates just as quickly. Master Windu trusts almost no one, he knows, especially in the past years of uncertainty. And perhaps, when he says Anakin will gain his trust, that means he will be granted the rank of Master and allowed to remain on the Council despite losing the Chancellor's backing, though it was now obviously just another sinister strand in the sparkling web he'd been weaving around the entire galaxy since before Anakin was born. Anakin's hope, that he will have destroyed that web with one good decision, wells up almost as strongly as the negative feelings of just a moment earlier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then it all goes dark. Obi-Wan finds himself alone in Anakin's mind, without even the sensation of the young man as he experiences the events in his memory, as if Anakin were not present for them either. He gropes around in the dark, and finds nothing. It's as if thick ink has been poured into a chasm, filling it and drowning everything inside. When his head breaks the surface, it's to see his own face and the inside of this stolen ship. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Standing in that very same spot, Obi-Wan takes a step back. It's amazing he remains on his feet, the relief he is feeling now almost knocking him to the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All is not lost. The war, the Jedi, the galaxy, those are all gone - but not Anakin. Anakin remains to him, and that is all he needs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Darling Anakin," he says, looking into frightened blue eyes, "I'm afraid I have some bad news."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan's eyes have remained dry even as Anakin soaked through the front of his tunic, fingers curled like claws into his tabards, his own body shaking. He's stroked the young man's dirty, sweat-soaked hair, and continued thanking the Force for not taking this away from him with everything else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't remember </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>of it," Anakin sobs. "How could he do that, Master? Just - just use me like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>puppet,</span>
  </em>
  <span> not even - not even -" </span>
  <em>
    <span>not even a slave. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know, dear one," Obi-Wan murmurs back. "I must say it looked for all the world as if you were in full control of yourself. Master Yoda refused to believe otherwise."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin's violent shudder interrupts the scoff he tries to let out, and he looks up at Obi-Wan with pleading blue eyes. "You knew, didn't you, Master?" he begs. "That wasn't me, that could never be me!" Anakin is so thoroughly shredded at that moment that his thoughts and emotions are running free through the Force, and Obi-Wan can easily pick up the true fear behind his plea. He's struggling to come to terms with having been a mere puppet as he'd called himself, with believing he was truly blameless. Obi-Wan knows that even when he accepts that, there will be fresh guilt for that same thing, shame for having been weak enough to let Palpatine control him like that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'll struggle with the same emotions plaguing Obi-Wan, currently shoved to the back of his mind as he focuses all his remaining energy (of which there is not much) on soothing Anakin. There's a modicum of normalcy in that, although he knows that unlike usual, these negative feelings will neither stay buried nor be easily released to the Force.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For now, however, his deeply traumatized former Padawan needs him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course not," he coos. "Yoda was surprised that I agreed to go after you when he asked. He did not...phrase it so, but we both knew he wanted me to kill you."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"WHAT?" </span>
  </em>
  <span>Anakin shrieked. "He - he wanted - and he asked </span>
  <em>
    <span>you?" </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know," Obi-Wan says placatingly. "Had I believed you truly fallen so low, I would have refused - no matter your transgressions, I could never kill you, my love." Anakin buries his head in his Master's tunic again, but is obviously still listening. "But I did not believe it. And I knew I had to save you - either from yourself, or Palpatine. Yoda would not have made such an effort."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What effort?" Anakin snorts. "I can feel the egg on my head, y'know. You just knocked me out with the hilt of your lightsaber, didn't you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes," Obi-Wan admits. "You were raving, about being betrayed by the evil Jedi and by myself. It's easy now to recognize it was Darth Sidious speaking through you and trying to deceive me, to trick me into attacking you with lethal force."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you'd never do that," Anakin says in a tone of heartening surety. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Indeed. It seems the Sith Lord only understood a fraction of our relationship."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Enough to know he needed you off-planet to make his move," Anakin mutters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, anyone could have told him that."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Will The Real Luke Skywalker Please Stand Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>If Episode IX had been made by a competent studio with creators who actually understand Luke Skywalker.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>rey finds the Real luke skywalker (not JAKE skywalker) on that rocky island, waiting for her. she also finds his dad and his stepdad, in less corporeal forms.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Luke's face twitched, making expressions that seemed to be in response to statements Rey could not hear. "What are you doing?" she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Master blinked at her. "Oh, you can't see them?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"See who?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hm." He stroked his scrubby beard in a gesture that gave Rey the oddest sense of distant deja-vu. "You're obviously very strong in the Force, Rey - Leia wouldn't have sent you to me otherwise, and I can sense it, anyway. Have you had any training?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," she said. "I was alone in the Outer Rim since I was a child. I didn't even know the Force was real until a few weeks ago."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke snorted. "Oh, it's real alright, and it's strong in you. Okay, copy me." In a blink he had sat down and crossed his legs, sitting up straight, suddenly the picture of serenity. Rey hastened to do as he said and mirror his pose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Breathe deeply," he said, his bright voice already a soothing tone of guidance. "Relax your shoulders but keep your back and neck straight."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rey did so, feeling her spine pop a little after the long, steep trek up to the island summit, and sitting for hours in the Falcon before it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Clear your mind," Luke continued. "Feel the breeze, and the grass. Listen to the ocean. Ignore the porgs. Let it all wash in, and wash out." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sat like this for some time, Rey doing her best to follow his instructions, until finally it seemed to click. And Luke could evidently tell when it did, because he spoke again, in a voice that now seemed not only soothing but ethereal. "Spread your energy outward. Over the island, and beyond it. Reach out and touch the galaxy. Touch the Unifying Force itself."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was easy, all of a sudden. She took one more deep breath, and then she knew - </span>
  <em>
    <span>they were not alone.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Her eyes flew open, and there they were. Two men. One was tall and rangy and looked scarcely older than Rey herself, with tousled hair and a scar over one curious eye, and the other was just slightly shorter, closer to Luke's age but not quite, with much nicer whiskers and a look of soft kindness, the kind Rey had never known. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who are they?" she whispered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We can hear you," the younger one said. "Nice of you to notice us finally."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin," the other said scoldingly, and his transparent blue companion stuck out his lower lip like a child.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The interaction was so incongruent that it took a moment for Rey to put the pieces together. "You're</span>
  <em>
    <span> Anakin Skywalker!" </span>
  </em>
  <span>she squeaked. </span>
  <em>
    <span>"Darth Vader!"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey!" Darth Vader complained. "I haven't gone by that in like thirty years, so cool it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Rey, I'm sure you've heard of my father," Luke deadpanned. "Destroyer of the Republic and the Emperor's right hand."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Also </span>
  <em>
    <span>hero</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the Republic and defeater of the same Emperor," Darth V - </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anakin </span>
  </em>
  <span>said insistently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan sighed. "Yes, dear one, your very presence here is evidence of your redemption and true goodness."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin looked smug, now. It was honestly wild. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Several more very surreal hours later, Rey was basically just watching the legendary Luke Skywalker argue about the First Order and Kylo Ren with the ghosts of his father, Darth Vader, and with Darth Vader's husband, apparently, so Luke's stepdad. "How could I have failed him like that?" Luke said. "He was my nephew, he was like a son to me - I should have seen it, I should have done something."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan sighed. "Trust me, Luke, you still did not fail so egregiously as I did. And remember, you did succeed where all else failed." He inclined his head towards Anakin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Father...is a special case," Luke said dryly, making the special case in question preen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin, that's not necessarily a compliment," Obi-Wan muttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shh, Master."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Um," Rey piped up, "from what I've gathered, I don't think </span>
  <em>
    <span>either </span>
  </em>
  <span>of you failed? Vader-"</span>
  <span></span><br/>

  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>"It's </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anakin."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sorry- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anakin </span>
  </em>
  <span>got manipulated for years and years and, Master Kenobi, you were the only thing that kept him from succumbing </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span> faster."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes! Yes!" The handsome young ghost of Darth Vader started hopping up and down, pointing at her. "She gets it!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And, um," Rey continued, "...Master Skywalker..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Luke, please," he said long-sufferingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Luke, if Kyle only went to the Dark Side like five years ago, then he was - he was older than I am! He was almost 25, a fully-grown adult capable of making his own decisions!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You'd be surprised," Master Kenobi muttered, and Anakin elbowed him in the ghost ribs.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>dontforgettolikecommentandsubscribe!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. He Said That Like Dwight On The Office</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Another breakup scene.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>that's right folks its a double update cuz i went like 2+ weeks without posting any. this is a shortie tho.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anakin has realized that he can go months at a time without seeing Padme and not be bothered, but three weeks without Obi-Wan and he starts losing his mind. </p><p>"Padme," he says softly, "I can't keep living this lie anymore."</p><p>Her heart lifts with wild hope. Finally, Anakin will truly choose <em> her </em> over the Jedi, over Obi-Wan Kenobi. </p><p>"Oh, Ani," she says rapturously. "I'm so glad you're finally-"</p><p>"What?" he says incredulously, and she falters. "You're <em> glad?" </em></p><p>"That you're leaving the Jedi? Of course."</p><p>"Oh. No, I." Anakin frowns at her, and seems to form some resolution. "No, Padme, the lie is our marriage."</p><p>She blinks at him, dumbfounded. "You're choosing the Jedi...over me?"</p><p>Anakin looks like that's not quite right, but he steamrolls on, as always. "You deserve someone completely devoted, who will dedicate all of his love and undivided attention to you."</p><p>"I thought I had all of your love and undivided attention," she says. Anakin would have never cheated, would he?</p><p>"You couldn't handle my undivided attention," he says flatly. "The only reason anything about our relationship <em> ever </em> worked was <em> because </em> you didn't have it.” </p><p>Padme shrinks away from him, affronted. "Then who can?" she demands.</p><p>He looks at her like she's crazy. "Obi-Wan," he says, obviously meaning "who else?"</p><p>"The lie I'm living is the one with you," he continues. "The idea that I'm going to someday leave the Jedi, give up Obi-Wan, and choose you. The idea that ours is a real marriage." Anakin sighs. "I've travelled a lot, Padme. And I've seen real marriages. They're nothing like ours."</p><p>Deep down, Padme knows he's right, and that knowledge lives as a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>for real like padme Could Not Handle ALL of anakin's needy bullshit. very few people could. just one, in fact.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Bail Just Headed Straight For The Cantina</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What the hell is a bizarrely aged Obi-Wan doing in a shack on Tatooine?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sorry its been almost a month yall i started work again</p><p>we earn the time travel tag. (its also a bit of a When Universes Collide bc the anakin and obiwan who time traveled come from a place where all the crap that led to the OT didn't/hasn't happened)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bail seemed quite at a loss for words for several minutes. And then he sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He won't appreciate the risk," the Senator muttered. "But I don't see how we have any choice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other sharply. "Who are you talking about?" Obi-Wan asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think it's better if you just see for yourself."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They didn't waste any more time, and got into Bail's fastest, stealthiest convertible - obviously several models more recent than the aethersprites they were used to. Anakin would have given his left hand (ok, not really) for the chance to take a closer look, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. Bail wouldn't let him pilot, and also wouldn't let either of them see the coordinates he entered into the hyperdrive. Both things made Anakin extremely antsy, but neither he nor Obi-Wan could sense any danger or ill intent coming from Bail. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only the overwhelming darkness that covered the galaxy like a noxious blanket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a two-day trip in the small but comfortable ship, and meant that their destination was obviously in the far Outer Rim. Anakin's fingers continued to itch for the controls, but the combined forces of Obi-Wan and Bail's forbidding looks was enough to quell even him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You seem to have picked up a thing or two in the glaring department," Anakin said to Organa with a smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bail was silent for a moment. "Odd as it may sound, I learned it from my daughter. She's eight years old and her glares have sent assassins running."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She get it from Queen Breha?" Anakin asked curiously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"...We adopted her."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Huh." Bail's caginess - quite unlike the usual gushing father about his little girl - clearly indicated his daughter wasn't an ordinary orphan they'd taken in.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What d'you reckon? </span>
  </em>
  <span>he asked his Master.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Not old enough to have been a Jedi youngling he saved, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Obi-Wan mused. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She would have been born right around the rise of this Empire, if I'm remembering the story correctly. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Well, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Anakin said, </span>
  <em>
    <span>not really our business, then.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>A jumping vein in Bail's forehead showed he could tell they were communicating behind his back, but after that he seemed to fall into abstraction for the rest of the trip. For their own part, the two Jedi didn't hesitate to take advantage of this respite from war to get some much-needed (even more than they knew, really) true rest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin was dozing when they came out of hyperspace, but he would recognize that dustball anywhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's Tatooine!" he snarled, sitting bolt upright, and rousing Obi-Wan with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, it is," Bail said. "Calm down, Skywalker."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Calm down? I - !"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slumped back. "If I get sand in my boots, I'll never forgive either of you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bail landed his ship outside of any spaceports - if Anakin was guessing right, they were about halfway between Mos Eisley and Anchorhead, smack dab in the middle of the Jundland Wastes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that didn't matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His head jerked to the east as soon as he sensed it. "No," he breathed. "Why?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin?" Obi-Wan said in concern, but Bail only looked resigned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin took off running.  He slipped on loose stones among the maze-like rock formations, but he was chasing a signature in the Force that he could never, ever lose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Master followed him immediately, and Bail took a moment to sigh before he went to fetch the small speeder stored in his ship. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin followed twisting paths carved through the granite and limestone, caves with wide holes in the roof where even stone couldn't hold up against thousands of sandstorms and the mercilessness of Tatoo I and his brother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin!" Obi-Wan called from behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Master," Anakin breathed, but he wasn't talking to the Jedi following him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sprinted around one last twist and emerged into a valley, and a ways down the slope he saw a rough stone hut, with a few bantha milling around it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Obi-Wan Kenobi standing in the doorway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Master," Anakin said again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hello, Anakin," the bizarrely aged Master said to him. "This isn't your usual time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" he said breathlessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You usually come after sunset, after I've been in the heat too long," this old Obi-Wan said to him. "So to what do I owe the pleasure, hm?" He addressed this question to the blazing blue sky rather than Anakin. And then he turned away. "Leave, Anakin. I can't bear to pretend right now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Master, what are you talking about?" Anakin asked, just as his younger Obi-Wan finally caught up - he'd slowed down when he felt Anakin stop but sensed no danger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anakin?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Master, that's you!" He pointed down to the hut, now with its door firmly closed. "That's you in there! And you told me to leave!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "Perhaps he's expecting </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> counterpart to appear any moment and get terribly jealous."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rolled his eyes. "No, it sounded more like he thought I was some kind of heat hallucination."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh dear," Obi-Wan said. "I suppose you being dead might explain why I'd chosen Tatooine for a place of exile."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aww," Anakin cooed automatically, and then wrinkled his nose. "I mean, no, that's a terrible idea, I hated this place more than anywhere. But still, awww."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course that's what you focus on, and not the part of my theory where you're </span>
  <em>
    <span>dead." </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin shrugged. "I had kind of assumed we both were, from how cagey Senator Organa was being.  And if I were alive, I'd be out there fighting this Sith emperor."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Indeed. It's also the only reason I can think of why I </span>
  <em>
    <span>wouldn't</span>
  </em>
  <span> be."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Although if </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> were dead, we both know I'd be even more determined to die on some Sith's saber."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Quite." Obi-Wan sighed. "Well, this is where Bail brought us, and he didn't try to stop you, so my other self must be who we came here to see."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Since I don't think we're supposed to go swap gossip with Jabba, yeah."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So we'll just have to convince him we're not ghosts or hallucinations."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They walked slowly down the slope towards the hut, both aware of how they lacked any kind of plan or real idea of what to expect. Obi-Wan considered what might become of him with Anakin dead and a Sith Lord in power, and came up with nothing good.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. taylorswift_speaknow.mp3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>obiwan uses his words a little sooner on mustafar.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>like of all the times for him to not be quipping during a fight it was then? fucking then?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Panting heavily, finally getting a second's reprieve while Anakin reeled from the hard shove across the hangar, Obi-Wan felt his emotions give way. "Anakin, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> you!" he cried out. "Why are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>doing</span>
  </em>
  <span> this?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin, who had been almost on his feet again, abruptly fell back on his ass. He stared over at Obi-Wan with wide blue eyes. Their Force bond, though almost overwhelmed by darkness and turmoil, was still intact, and so unlike with Padme, he could actually feel the absolute, undeniable sincerity of Obi-Wan's words for himself. "You...you love me?" he croaked, staring at him with wide blue eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan blinked. "Of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course</span>
  </em>
  <span> I do."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh," Anakin whispered. And then he burst into tears, eyes flooding and his exhausted body immediately wracked by heaving sobs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Heedless of any remaining aggression or killing intent, Obi-Wan </span>
  <em>
    <span>nyoomed</span>
  </em>
  <span> across the hangar and dropped to his knees in front of Anakin. Without hesitation, he wrapped the maybe-Sith up in a tight embrace. "It's alright," he murmured, touching Anakin's sooty hair. "It's alright."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I," Anakin hiccoughed, "I - I ruined </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything!"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Even Obi-Wan couldn't refute that entirely. "I'm still here," he said instead. "I've got you, sweetheart."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin shuddered violently. "How...how can you still call me that?" he said. "I was just trying to kill you!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And now you're not," Obi-Wan replied calmly. "Right?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course not!" Anakin sounded every bit as offended by that idea as he would have a month earlier. A </span>
  <em>
    <span>day</span>
  </em>
  <span> earlier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Then you and I at least are going to be fine."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I," Anakin choked out, "I killed the-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know," Obi-Wan whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I was so-" He hiccoughed again. "I barely - what I was doing -"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You have not been in your right mind, dear one," Obi-Wan said gently. "Not for quite some time, I fear."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin sobbed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His Master - his real, true Master, it was the worst possible blasphemy for him to have ever called someone else that, let alone Sidious - slowly rocked him while they remained in rather a heap on the hard durasteel floor of the mining facility, and Anakin continued to cry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tears had not yet ceased to flow when Obi-Wan felt the skin on the back of his neck prickle. "Anakin," he said urgently, "we must leave now. Return to the ship and enter hyperspace at once."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin lifted his head. His tear-stained face was grim. "Sidious is coming, isn't he."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes. No doubt seeking you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He won't be expecting you to have gotten through to me," Anakin said. "He </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> wanted me to kill you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good." Obi-Wan sniffed. "I always did hate that simpering bastard."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. Wish I'd listened to you." Anakin stood up first, offering Obi-Wan a hand up automatically. He didn't hesitate to take it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once standing, Obi-Wan shook his head. "Anakin, he's clearly been manipulating you in the cruelest way possible for </span>
  <em>
    <span>many</span>
  </em>
  <span> years."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," he said wryly. "I'm beginning to see that."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <a href="https://tarvek-sturmvoraus.tumblr.com/">my blog</a>
</p></blockquote></div></div>
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